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The Westshore Rebels鈥� quarterback-by-committee experiment took an early hit on Saturday as all three pivots that head coach J.C. Boice used struggled in a horrendous 78-7 loss in Kelowna to the Okanagan Sun.
Veteran Hunter Lake started, but both Talyn Davies and Ashton MacKinnon immediately saw duties behind centre in the season-opening game for both sa国际传媒 Football Conference teams.
The trio took turns on alternating series as the Rebels fell behind 40-0 after a sloppy first quarter.
It鈥檚 a plan Boice hatched to start the season. Ultimately, he says, the quarterbacking scenario will sort itself out.
By game鈥檚 end, MacKinnon handled most of the duties.
It started badly for the visitors as Lake was intercepted, on just his second pass, by Wes Geisler for a three-yard Okanagan touchdown. Davies also tossed an interception on his first series and MacKinnon was equally ineffective, pressured by the aggressive Sun defence.
The Sun, which hammered Westshore 92-7 last year, has led the country in defensive statistics the past two years and the Rebels鈥� quarterbacking experiment will obviously take time as the team now heads to Week 2. The locals will play host to rivals, the Vancouver Island Raiders (who are 1-0), on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Westhills Stadium.
鈥淗e says it鈥檚 going to be the 1A, 1B, 1C race,鈥� Lake, the Rebels鈥� starting QB for the past two years, said of coach Boice鈥檚 plan. 鈥淚 think he is going to go that way because everyone brings something to the table. Talyn has shown some talent and the same goes for Ashton.鈥�
All three possess different styles as well. Lake is an athletic pivot who can hurt you with his ability to run. Davies is more of a pure passer. MacKinnon, at six-foot-seven, is very athletic and has good vision.
鈥淗e鈥檚 decided to go with a series-by-series rotation. I don鈥檛 mind it,鈥� MacKinnon said before the team headed out to Kelowna for Saturday鈥檚 opener. 鈥淚 think it definitely challenges the defences.
鈥淓very quarterback plays their game a different way. They make their decisions and reads in different ways so you can鈥檛 prepare your defence for three different quarterbacks.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all very different style quarterbacks and it will impose a challenge and it might be a little fun.鈥�
There was little fun on Saturday as the Sun racked up a 50-0 lead by halftime.
Okanagan quarterback Cam Bedore connected with Kyle Kawamoto on a 56-yard touchdown pass for a 14-0 lead. A blocked punt produced another Sun score and backup QB Josiah Joseph hooked up with Dillon Fortune for a 14-yard TD pass and the game was virtually over in the first 10 minutes.
MacKinnon played most of the second quarter, but Lake drew in for the third and recorded an 11-yard TD pass to Alex Wright.
Cody Wist had two interceptions for Westshore.
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